


I Think I’ve Seen This Film Before

by emiliaL128



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Post-Season/Series 01, Shoni - Freeform, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28322124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emiliaL128/pseuds/emiliaL128
Summary: Takes place 2 years after the rescue of the Unsinkable Eight. Toni and Shelby get into a situation that is all too similar to the one that led to Toni's breakup with Regan.
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 11
Kudos: 460
Collections: ST13





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Short prologue to set the scene - The main chapter will be out soon :)

It had been just over two years since the Unsinkable Eight were rescued from the forsaken island. Shelby’s hair was beginning to reach her collarbone, and she even contemplated shaving it a few times throughout the years, though she never went through with it. It would remind her too much of the facility she was essentially held captive in after being literally trapped on a deserted island, as if the latter wasn't enough trauma on its own. Understandably, she never wanted to be reminded of the facility that kept her isolated from her friends when she needed them the most. Isolated from Toni.

The first year after the island presented its challenges for the relationship between the two. Long distance was rough for anyone, and the fact that they lived on opposite sides of the country, as well as Shelby’s parents being in the mix, did not help. Even so, they made it work. They survived off of long facetime calls, with Shelby swearing to her parents Toni was just a really, _really_ , good friend. She felt bad about hiding her girlfriend, but she knew her parents would do something drastic if they found out. So, she decided, she would tell them on her eighteenth birthday. Then, at least, they couldn’t send her to some conversion camp or God knows what. And that’s exactly what she did. The very day that she turned 18, she came clean about the relationship.

In nice terms, it did not go well. Her parents, specifically her father, were furious beyond measure. From eavesdropping, Shelby learned that he threw out the idea of kicking her out a few times to her mother, but thankfully, her mom convinced him not to. Her relationship with her father was never the same after that, and while it hurt then and still did, the freedom she felt from being true to herself was intoxicating.

One night, on an especially late facetime call, Shelby had brought up the idea of her and Toni going to the same college. But of course, none of their dream colleges matched up, and while Shelby offered to settle and go to wherever Toni got a basketball scholarship, Toni resolutely shot it down. It had sparked into a mini argument, ending in the decision to go to separate, yet very nearby, colleges.

So they did. They went to close colleges, with the rest of their friends not too far away. Since then, their relationship had been mostly smooth sailing with the occasional tiff, but it was nothing the two of them couldn’t handle. In all senses of the word, they were happy. They saw each other everyday and called or texted almost constantly. It was perfect in their eyes. Truth be told, it felt a little too perfect. Toni, especially, was always subconsciously wondering when the bomb would drop, or when she would do or say something to ruin everything. Even though she had been mentally preparing herself for it, Toni couldn't help from dreadfully fearing the worst when the bomb did, ultimately, drop.


	2. Shelter

It happened as Toni and Shelby walked through the parking lot of a basketball stadium. Shelby had gotten them tickets to a WNBA game for their anniversary, and though Toni was sure Shelby would have been bored out of her mind, she actually seemed much more into the game than Toni. Shelby being Shelby had come decked in a basketball jersey, minor face paint under her eyes, themed nails, ribbons in her hair, and a poster for Toni’s favorite player. And now, post game, it was Shelby that was vehemently ranting about the score, not Toni, surprisingly.

“All she had to do was make that one shot and they would’ve won. I mean, come on, she was real close to the basket. She was practically makin’ out with it. You’re telling me she couldn’t make that one shot?”

Toni chuckled at her girlfriend’s passion, soaking in every borderline-angry word in the southern drawl of Shelby’s voice that Toni had loved so much. They walked side by side, their hands slotted together like two pieces of a puzzle, as if each one was made for the sole purpose of holding the other. The air was crisp, a faint scent of the fries in Shelby’s hand mixing with the floral smell of her perfume. It smelt like home.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks, trust me.” 

“Hey, I’ve been to every one of your games and you’ve never missed a shot like that.”

“What can I say? I’m just superior.” Toni shrugged, playfully nudging Shelby’s side as they continued walking down the asphalt. 

“Yes you are,” Shelby replied without hesitation, tilting the cup of fries towards Toni so that she could take some. 

As they approached one of the rare lights in the parking lot, Toni looked at Shelby’s newly illuminated face to see that the strips of black paint under her eyes had started to smudge.

“Hold on, you’ve got something on your cheek,” Toni stopped walking, taking her hand out of Shelby’s much to her dismay, and bringing both hands up to her face. She carefully brought her thumbs up to the smudged paint, gently caressing her cheekbones to rub the marks away. She relished the feeling of Shelby’s soft, often moisturized skin as the blonde gazed at her with nothing but love in her beautiful, breathtaking eyes. 

The smudges were gone, but rather than retreating her hands, Toni brought them to her girlfriend’s jawline, softly tracing it in the dim light. Shelby gently gripped the collar of Toni’s jacket in response, rubbing the soft fabric in between her fingertips as she pulled Toni towards her. 

Leaning into the pole of the light shining over them, Shelby brought her lips to Toni’s, a fuzzy warmth originating from where their lips met and emanating through rest of their bodies, pleasantly contrasting the chilly atmosphere. Their foreheads pushed against each other, eyes closing and the moment intensifying. No words were said, and none had to be. They soaked in the other’s presence, not wanting to be anywhere else. They continued to bring their lips together, occasionally pulling them apart only to breathe, and probably would have stayed there forever if not for the unwelcome interruption.

Instead of Shelby’s perfume, a new scent of stale alcohol filled Toni’s nose. At first, she ignored it, merely scrunching her eyebrows slightly, but as the smell grew stronger Toni couldn’t help but bring it up. She knew Shelby had had a bit of a drinking problem in the time that followed the island, but she had told her she was sober now. She had promised it, in fact. Slightly hurt, Toni reluctantly pried her lips away from Shelby, who tried to lean back into Toni’s but was stopped by the arrival of Toni’s hand on her chest.

“What’s wrong?” Shelby asked in a voice just barely over a whisper, her eyes still closed.

“When did you have alcohol?” Toni asked, prompting Shelby to furrow her own brows and open her eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Shelby stared at Toni with pure confusion as she kept a hand pressed against her collar.

“I smell beer,” Toni started, voice cracking ever so slightly and barely holding eye contact. She continued, hesitating before asking, “Are you drunk?”

Shelby shook her head in response. “I haven’t had any alcohol, Toni. Why would you think that?” It was Shelby’s turn to sound hurt.

At that moment, a realization seemed to dawn over Shelby as her focus on Toni dimmed and she became more aware of her surroundings.

“I smell it too.”

As laughter began to fill the air, along with stronger scents of alcohol, Shelby looked past Toni and completely froze. Toni turned away, following her gaze to see a few college kids that had obviously had a few too many drinks. Shelby gripped her girlfriend’s collar tighter as the one in front, a tall man that seemed the most drunk out of all of his friends, spoke while directly looking at Shelby.

“Heyyy ladies,” His voice boomed, words slurring and footsteps faltering. Toni spoke quietly to Shelby without taking her eyes off of the drunk pack.

“Where’s the car?” Her voice was low, calm, and authoritative, but the facade only did so much. Her own vocal chords betrayed her as her voice cracked.

“I, I don’t know,” Shelby stuttered as the hand she had placed on Toni slightly started to shake. The shaking intensified while Toni and Shelby stood like deer in headlights as the boys got closer and closer.

“I call the blonde one!” One of the lankier guys, although the tallest, called out, his friends roaring in laughter. 

Despite Shelby’s fear, she knew that Toni was likely just as scared. She tried to make herself seem brave for Toni’s benefit, knowing just how protective she was, though it was a pretty futile attempt.

“I’ll pass,” She called out, triggering a chorus of “Oooo” from the group.

In a mocking Southern accent, one man turned to the one that had spoke to Shelby, “Ya hear that partner? She’ll pass. What are you gonna do about that?”

Toni could feel her blood boiling. She stepped towards the guys, relinquishing Shelby’s grip on her and clenching her fists.

“You’re not gonna fucking do anything.”

There was an uproar of laughter and everything seemed to move in slow motion. The most buff out of the group made a move for Shelby, pushing Toni to the side as he puckered his lips, a large, goofy grin plastering onto his face not soon after. Someone tried to hold Toni down against one of the cars, but with her heart on the line, nothing would have stopped her.

She shrugged the hands off of her and charged at the guy going for Shelby. She slammed her entire bodyweight, which was not much at all, into him, and to his surprise as well as his friends, she knocked him down onto the cold asphalt. The grin was wiped off his face and replaced with a look of pure anger. Even his friends recoiled as a result. Before Toni knew it, there was a fist flying to her right eye and she was helpless to do anything about it. She went flying back, landing hard on the ground as her hands immediately went to her face. 

The boys started to retreat, even the one that had hit Toni, but Toni was not done. She abruptly got up, a look of vengeance in her deep brown eyes. She went for the skinniest of the guys, landing a hard kick to his junk. She was shoved in response, losing her footing and once again landing on the ground. She still was not done. She was ready to reign terror on these jerks that had made Shelby so scared, no matter the cost, but as she went to get up, she was stopped in her tracks by a familiar arm planting itself in front of her. It grabbed her side, pulling her to look at the face of its owner.

Everything in her wanted to pull away, to go after the guys, but every ounce of strength she thought she had melted upon seeing Shelby’s expression. Where she expected to see fear, fear of Toni and her actions rather than the boys, Toni met the purely worried gaze of her favorite Texan (Sorry, Dot) as she kneeled next to her.

“It’s okay. I’m okay.” She told her in a steady voice, but Toni was skeptical. In the distance, she heard someone scream “Crazy bitch!” followed by footsteps that faded in volume.

Shelby ignored them, grabbing her girlfriend’s clenched hand and prying it open to place it on her own heart as she continued, “I promise.”

There was something about those words and how they sounded coming out of Shelby’s mouth that really did make Toni believe them, a certain grounding to her tone that made the brunette aware of her quick breaths and rapidly beating heart. There was honesty and trust.

“C’mere,” Shelby muttered, pulling Toni in for one of her signature hugs. Toni nestled her head into the crook of the Texan’s shoulder, ignoring the pain that shot up from where there would surely be a black eye the next day. Shelby noticed her wincing, quickly retreating. Shelby went to apologize, but Toni beat her to it.

“I’m sorr-” Toni started, only to be interrupted by the blonde. 

“I know.” As Toni scanned Shelby’s features, she couldn’t help but think about the not so different situation with Regan. When she had looked at Regan afterwards, she saw disappointment, regret, and even fear. Shelby had none of those things. All that Toni could tell about Shelby in that moment was that she was concerned, not because she didn’t know how to deal with Toni’s anger, but because Toni was hurt. There were some tears forming under her eyes that were still very much filled with love, no less than prior to the incident. Toni was confused at this.

“You’re not mad at me?” Toni sounded like a scared child awaiting a punishment.

“Of course I’m mad, stupid.”

“Oh.” Toni sounded defeated, avoiding eye contact.

“Hey,” Shelby gently grabbed Toni’s chin, pulling her gaze up and forcing her to look at her. “Not because you tried to protect me. I’m mad because you got hurt.”

“So you’re not gonna dump me in the middle of a parking lot while I smell like nachos and french fries?” Toni lightly joked as Shelby wiped a tear from the brunette’s cheek.

At this, Shelby genuinely chuckled. She plopped down next to Toni, gazing at the woman she felt so lucky to call hers.

“I am not and never will be dumping you. You hear me?”

“You don’t know tha-”

“Yes I do, silly. I love you. I love you with everything that I’ve got. Nothing you can do or say is gonna change that. Alright?”

When Toni didn’t respond, Shelby averted her gaze forward into the vast parking lot.

“Though I might have to dump you if we can’t find the car, or if you drop a fry on the seat,” She jokingly pointed a finger out at Toni. “That is where I draw the line.”

Toni grinned, leaning her head on Shelby’s shoulder. Shelby leaned her head on Toni’s in response. “I love you too.” Toni had never meant a single sentence more in her life. At that moment, she was no longer afraid of a bomb dropping and ruining what they had. The bomb had already dropped, but Shelby was her shelter that she knew would always be there for her to count on. What she thought would be a repeat of a previous film in her life ended up having a pretty good fucking ending, and Toni couldn't be more thankful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I haven't edited this much yet since I just wanted to post, so I apologize for any mistakes. Comments are very much appreciated <3


	3. my socials

thanks for reading! follow me on instagram at @shonienthusiast for some shoni drawings and on twitter at @slutforslexie <3


End file.
